BMW’s Latest Ultra-Exclusive Model Is the Seedtop Shooting Brake

BMW understands that sometimes you need a roof over your head.

The German luxury marque has just unveiled a dazzling new shooting brake called the Concept Speedtop. And the two-door, just like year’s Skytop roadster, is getting an ultra-exclusive production run.

The Speedtop made its debut this past Friday at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como in Italy one year after the Skytop did the same. Both cars are based on the current M8 but wear sleek bodies that are among the most visually striking designs to come from the automaker this century.

From the front, the Skytop and Speedtop look identical thanks to distinctive front ends that feature that features razor-thin headlights and illuminated kidney grilles. But when viewed from the side, the differences are readily apparent. The key separator is the roof. Not only is the Speedtop’s fixed (the Skytop comes with removable panels), it also extends to the rear of the vehicle, ending in a new hatch door. It also features a special gradient finish on its roof, which on the display vehicle changes from Floating Sunstone Maroon to Floating Sundown Silver, and rides on a set of unique two-tone, 14-spoke wheels. Despite these changes, both of the vehicles share a center spine that comes out of the sculpted hood, with the Speedtop’s carrying over to its roof and leading into a spoiler.

The interior, like the exterior, is nearly identical up front. Both cars are two-seaters, but the Speedtop, thanks to its shooting brake body style, has loads more cargo space. That extra room has been used to install a set of shelves behind the driver and passenger seats that each have a strap to hold bags in place and increase trunk size. Leathermaker Schedoni has been commissioned to make matching leather bags for the shelves and a large duffel for the trunk.

As with the Skytop, powertrain details are scarce. The automaker says it will be equipped with the “most powerful V-8 engine currently offered by BMW.” That would be the twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter mill found in models like the XM, which makes 617 hp. This also suggests the engine will be mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and, possibly, split power between all four wheels. We’ll have to wait and see.

Luckily, the wait shouldn’t be too long. BMW has confirmed that the Speedtop, just like the Skytop before it, will go into production. It will be slightly less exclusive than its sold-out predecessor, with 70 units expected to roll off the line instead of 50. Pricing is a mystery, but Car and Driver suggests it is likely to cost over $500,000.

Click here for more photos of the BMW Concept Speedtop.

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